Talk about a heartbreaker. Until about two years ago, this was an old-fashioned, family-run hardware store. Perhaps you remember the kind  with rows and rows of little wooden drawers containing every kind and size of nail, screw, nut, bolt and washer you could ever need. And when your handyman disappeared, they knew someone who would do a terrific job and not charge an arm and a leg. It was one of the last of their breed.

Stores like that were magical. As small as they were, they could almost always come up with anything you asked for. A piece of rope, a can opener, light bulbs of a certain wattage, a window screen in just the right size, broom, dustpan, doormat, the right kind of screwdriver, a pull chain for a lamp. You name it, they had it. I could weep at the loss of that hardware store.

The replacement, this party and card shop, isnt even very good at what they purport to be. The selection of cards, gift wrap and ribbon is skimpy, and the stationery department in back has even fewer choices. I use this shop as a last resort when I dont have time to travel further for what I need.
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Talk about a heartbreaker. Until about two years ago, this was an old-fashioned, family-run hardware store. Perhaps you remember the kind  with rows and rows of little wooden drawers containing every kind and size of nail, screw, nut, bolt and washer you could ever need. And when your handyman disappeared, they knew someone who would do a terrific job and not charge an arm and a leg. It was one of the last of their breed.

Stores like that were magical. As small as they were, they could almost always come up with anything you asked for. A piece of rope, a can opener, light bulbs of a certain wattage, a window screen in just the right size, broom, dustpan, doormat, the right kind of screwdriver, a pull chain for a lamp. You name it, they had it. I could weep at the loss of that hardware store.

The replacement, this party and card shop, isnt even very good at what they purport to be. The selection of cards, gift wrap and ribbon is skimpy, and the stationery department in back has even fewer choices. I use this shop as a last resort when I dont have time to travel further for what I need.

Small hardware stores with magic ability to have the answer to your problems and even tell you how to fix it have almost become a texture of the past. See <A HREF="http://www.fotolog.net/zinetv/?pid=7682257" TARGET=_top>http://www.fotolog.net/zinetv/?pid=7682257</A>for glimpse of Minetta Lane.

War is the plague that human beings bring upon themselves. It is also a plague we might be able to end. On any given day since you and I were born, some part of the world has been at warin 2003 the total number of open conflicts was thirty. In the twentieth century at least 108 million people died in wars. Of the 20 largest military budgets on earth, 14 belong to developing countries. The United States spends more on its military than the next 16 countries combined